Notre Dame practiced inside the Loftus Center on Wednesday with snow falling in South Bend today. The Irish were not in pads today, but the video released by FIDM on YouTube showed some highlights of the second day of work in Spring Practice 2014. Here’s the video with some notes.
- Amir Carlisle looks pretty comfortable catching the ball out of the slot. With Greg Bryant, Tarean Folston, and Cam McDaniel ahead of him on the depth chart receiver is his best bet for playing time in 2014 making his spring at wide receiver critical.
- It was a very limited sample, but Mathias Farley was shown getting beat downfield a couple of times including once by Corey Robinson where Farley all but tackled Robinson who still made the catch.
- It won’t get old seeing Everett Golson run outside of the pocket for a while.
- Really nice route run by Ben Koyack about midway through.
- Greg Bryant looks JACKED. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching him and Folston in the backfield this year.
- Will Fuller was shown a couple times in just hte few minutes of footage available getting open downfield.
I like the Archangel’s haiku and the 31. Just one cautionary note on
scoring totals, ppg and national rankings. Kelly tends to button it up when he thinks he has clinched the game, just resorting to ground and pound. Also, this year there is an additional challenge in that he needs to get Zaire a lot of action. My surmise is that we will score many points in the first half, but not so many in the second half if we are leading by three scores.
There will be some games in which the offense will have to outscore the opponent for four quarters, not like some of the games the Cincy Bearcats played during Kelly’s time there.
I feel the offense in a great position to be great. The defense is only going to be speculation until Aug. 30th. That is when we will have a good idea of where this defense has developed. Will special teams still be a problem?
Yes, no, maybe….not sure it’s such a tough and confusing question.
The difference between being great and
really great, a great punt or kickoff return can change the tide in any game. Or great coverage can break the will of a great team. Its about showing a will to win at every, yes every opportunity!
. . . and recognizing that the other team
also has scholarship athletes who are capable of making big plays. We just need to make more. And by scoring more, winning might not come down to our offense or defense’s last possession as often as it has.
The offense is studded with, well, studs, all over the place. Quick, name the two offensive starters who, in your opinion will be the “weakest links” on the offensive starting 11. There is a lot of ordnance, and the leading indicator is that Steve Elmer, a stud by any other name, is playing left guard.
Au contraire, there is much wood to chop on the front seven. With Springmann, Councell, and Grace not taking contact in the Spring, the second string d line and linebacker corps make one shudder. Hiding Kendall Moore on the inside is one thing, but the thought of him actually starting on the outside when they shift to a 4-3 front is a cause for concern. Nyles Morgan is going to be very important. And I am waiting for Michael Deeb to seize the opportunity presented to him.
Farley? Well, with Butler out for the Spring, with Riggs still matriculatin’ in Gainesville and Nick Watkins still waiting to take the Midnight Special (quid vide, the origin of that Creedence Song and its meaning with respect to a certain prison in Centerville, Texas) to South Bend, Farley will get a lot of playing time this Spring. That will end when Butler returns and when Riggs and Watkins arrive. Our secondary, including the safety corps with sleeper James Onwualu, is movin’ on up.
In 2012 the defense bailed out the offense, frequently. The script flips in 2014.
Score thirty one
and still not done
would be fun
Haiku?
Scoring 31
And not even being done
Will be much more fun
= haiku (5)
(7)
(5)
I’ve learned not to overreact positive or negative to spring practice. Keep in mind like on national signing day every coach in the country gushes about his team and players. Kelly is no different. I’m cautiously optimistic that Notre Dame can be really, really good next year, but keeping my emotions in check.
Riggs won’t be enrolled until the summer as he finishes up the semester at Florida. He will be in fall camp.
is there a Cody Riggs sighting, Farley?